Trading
Updated 6 October 2026, 5 min readWhen eTrader cannot do what you asked, it says so in a short message at the bottom of the screen, with a title such as Order Rejected, Invalid SL/TP or Close Failed. Nothing is half done: a refused order is not opened, and a refused change leaves the position as it was. This page lists the messages you are most likely to see, what each one means and what to do next.
The market is closed
Every instrument trades on its own hours, set by your Broker. Outside them:
- The New Order ticket shows This market is closed. Orders open again when it trades. Its SELL, BUY and PLACE buttons are greyed out.
- An order sent another way, with the one-click buttons for example, is refused with Market is closed for and the symbol.
- Edit Position and Modify Order say changes can be made once the instrument is trading again, and the Close button reads Market closed when you hover over it.
Wait for the market to open. A pending order can still be cancelled while the market is closed, and stop losses and take profits you already set work from the first price after the open. Market Watch Symbols marks closed instruments with a Closed tag.
Not enough margin
Not enough free margin: this order needs 1,250.00 USD and 830.40 USD is free. The amounts are your own. The order needs more margin than the account has spare. Lower the volume until the Required Margin on the ticket is below your free margin, or close something first. The ticket's Free Margin After line warns you before you press the button: when it is negative, the order will be refused.
No available equity to trade. The account's equity is zero or less, so no new order can open. Your Broker or prop firm handles funding; eTrader has no deposit screen.
A pending order is checked again when it triggers. If the margin is not there at that moment, it is cancelled rather than filled, and History lists it as Cancelled (No Margin). See Pending orders explained.
Stop loss and take profit refused
The title is Invalid SL/TP, and the message names the rule:
| Message | Fix |
|---|---|
| For a Buy order, Stop Loss must be below the price. | Move the stop under the current bid, or under the order price on a pending order |
| For a Buy order, Take Profit must be above the price. | Move the target above that price |
| For a Sell order, Stop Loss must be above the price. | Move the stop over the current ask, or over the order price |
| For a Sell order, Take Profit must be below the price. | Move the target below that price |
| Stop Loss and Take Profit cannot be the same price. | Set two different levels |
If you dragged the line on the chart, it jumps back to where it was. A common cause is the price moving while you typed, so a stop that was valid a second ago now sits on the wrong side. The full rules are in Stop loss and take profit.
Pending order price refused
The title is Invalid Order Price. Each pending type has one side of the market it can sit on, and the message tells you which, with the current price in brackets, for example Buy Limit price must be below the current Ask. Either change the price, or change the type: a buy above the market is a Buy Stop, not a Buy Limit.
When you drag a pending order across the market, the type changes for you. Only a drop inside the spread, between the bid and the ask, is refused, with the title Order Not Moved.
Other refusals
| Message | What it means |
|---|---|
| Prices for this instrument are temporarily unavailable - please try again in a moment. | The instrument has no live price right now. eTrader never fills an order on an old price. Wait a few seconds and try again. |
| This instrument is not available. | Your Broker does not offer it on this account, or has switched it off. |
| ... is no longer offered - please contact your Broker to close this position. | The Broker removed an instrument you still hold. Only they can close it now. |
| Too many open positions, or too many pending orders | The account has reached the limit the message states. Close positions or cancel orders first. |
| This order would breach the Broker's net-exposure limit | Your Broker caps how much of that instrument it holds. The order was not opened. Try a smaller volume later, or ask your Broker. |
| This position was just closed - nothing left to close. | A stop loss, take profit or another device closed it a moment before your request. |
| This account is managed. Orders are placed by its manager. | The account follows a money manager, who trades it for you. |
| This session is view only. It cannot trade. | You signed in with an investor password, which can see the account but not trade. |
Margin level warnings
These are not refusals, but they come before one. Under the chart, Margin Level turns red when it reaches your Broker's margin call level. On the iPhone and Android apps, a banner on the Trade screen says the margin level is low and that positions may be closed if equity falls further.
If the margin level keeps falling to the Broker's stop out level, the Server closes positions, the largest loss first, until the account is back above it. Those trades show Stop Out under Closed By in History. How the levels work is in Balance, equity and margin.
A message not on this list
Some refusals come from your Broker's side and carry their own wording. Read the message as written, then contact your Broker or prop firm with it: they can see what happened on their Server. The order ticket and its controls are covered in Placing orders.